Description
4 credit/unit hours – Four hours of lecture weekly; one term
This course is an introduction to the organization and operation of a computer system. The focus of the course is on machine representation of instructions and data through the study of a low-level, machine-oriented assembly language.
Updated: April 25, 2023
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course the student will be able to:
- Describe the operational components of a Von Neumann Machine and explain how they work together to as a modern computer;
- Design higher-level language program control constructs using a lower-level (assembly-level) language;
- Model higher-level language data structures such as arrays, queues and stacks, using a lower-level language;
- Solve arithmetic problems when numbers are represented in bases other than decimal (e.g., binary, octal and hexadecimal); and
- Locate and identify data and instructions represented in memory dumps
Main Topics
1.0 The 7 Layer Model of the Modern Computer
2.0 Program Control Structures
3.0 Data representation Systems (e.g., binary, octal and hexadecimal)
4.0 Von Neumann’s Machine and Machine Cycle (e.g., the interaction of registers, processor and memory devices)
5.0 Review of Boolean Operations
6.0 Higher Level Language Program Constructs
7.0 Data Modeling
8.0 Array Representation and Implementation
9.0 Basic Theorems of Boolean Algebra, Truth Tables and Logic Circuits
10.0 Digital Logic